Woodland Consultancy Gloucester
In the winter of 2012 Treeation worked together with the owners of Brentlands Estate, Brookthorpe Gloucester to undertake an exciting woodland restoration project. The woodland component of the estate comprises largely of native broadleaf trees within 5 separate woodland blocks, 3 of which are newly established and the remaining 2 are mature and possibly ancient woodland. In a nut shell the woodlands had fell into a state of neglect that has meant limited diversity, overstood coppice, unstable trees of poor timber quality. Our main objectives are two protect and enhance diversity, improve access, boundaries and timber quality as well as develop a self funding woodland enterprise that will create enough income to pay for routine management tasks.
By summer 2013 Treeation had undertaken a series of seasonal surveys that enabled them to write a Forestry Commission approved Management plan to the standards set by the UK Woodland Assurance Standards (UKWAS). This process was incredibly valuable and cemented all our research, information and ideas into one well-presented document. Treeation had previously completed a Forestry Commission approved assessment of woodland Conditions, Threats and Opportunity of (COT assesesment) that enabled us to access the English Woodland Grant Scheme (EWGS). The EWGS has been a solid financial support to kick start this whole project.
Winter 2013/14 was the start of the real work! The EWGS helped us massively to initiate most of our practical restoration program. In winter 2013 we started our thinning program to remove poorly formed trees to improve future stock and to allow light levels to increase and encourage more flora on the forest floor. We also started restoring some veteran pollarded ashes using aerial tree surgery.
By the end of winter 2014/15 we have a whole list of achievements to date!
- Initiation of pollard with standards
- Initiating of regeneration survey
- Coppice restoration 1.5 acres
- Deer fencing of coppice area
- Planting of 100 saplings
- Installation of 2 new field gates
- 1.5km installation of forestry fencing (forestry commission spec)
- Charcoal kiln installed + charcoal being produced and sold locally
- Further thinning of 1.6 acres
- Improvements on access tracks
- Scrub cutting of 2 acres and reverted back to grassland.
Our future plans are to improve vermon control, replant more trees, carry on pollarding, coppicing and thinning and to get the self funding model up and running.
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